Chapter 6 - THE FAMILY MEETINGMy mother chose Sunday.
Of course she did.
Sunday had always been her favorite day for pretending nothing was wrong.
Church in the morning.
Brunch afterward.
A family dinner if she could arrange it.
Tradition could turn almost anything into something respectable in Eleanor Mercer’s world.
Fraud.
Cruelty.
Silence.
All of it looked better beneath a chandelier.
The invitation came through my attorney because Rebecca had instructed my parents not to contact me directly about the disputed accounts.
Mom’s lawyer proposed “an informal family resolution meeting.”
Rebecca hated the idea.
Claire hated it more.
I agreed.
Not because I believed we were going to resolve anything.
Because for the first time, everyone knew I had evidence.
I wanted to see what they did when excuses stopped working.
The meeting was held at my parents’ house.
The same dining room.
The same table.
The same chair.
Claire did not come.
That was her decision.
“I have nothing to prove to them,” she told me.
She was right.
Rebecca came with me.
My parents had their attorney, Thomas Reed.
Vanessa brought her own lawyer.
Blake did not attend.
Apparently, he had moved into a hotel three nights earlier.
When I entered the dining room, Vanessa was sitting in her usual chair.
She stared at me.
I stared back.
Neither of us mentioned it.
Mom looked older.
Dad looked furious.
“Daniel,” Mom said softly.
“Mom.”
She moved as though she intended to hug me.
I stepped aside and pulled out a chair for Rebecca instead.
Mom’s face tightened.
Everyone sat.
Thomas Reed began.
“We are here in hopes that the Mercer family can avoid escalating a private financial misunderstanding.”
Rebecca immediately said, “The term misunderstanding is disputed.”
Thomas nodded stiffly.
“Of course.”
Dad looked at me.
“Can we speak as a family without lawyers performing for ten minutes?”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“No.”
Vanessa scoffed.
“You always did love drama once you had an audience.”
I almost admired the hypocrisy.
Rebecca opened a folder.
“Ms. Mercer, our current documentation indicates multiple entities under your control received funds from Daniel’s companies without his informed authorization.”
Vanessa’s lawyer placed a hand on her arm.
She ignored him.
“My father invested in my businesses.”
“With Daniel’s money.”
“Family money.”
“There is no legal category called family money,” Rebecca said.
Vanessa rolled her eyes.
Mom intervened.
“Can we please stop speaking like strangers?”
I looked at her.
“Strangers would have treated Claire better.”
Her face fell.
“Daniel, I have apologized.”
“You apologized for Vanessa creating tension.”
“I was trying to—”
“You never apologized for sitting there while she humiliated my wife.”
“I froze.”
“You told me not to ruin dinner.”
“I was shocked!”
“You were inconvenienced.”
“That is not fair.”
“No. It isn’t.”
Dad slammed his palm on the table.
“Enough.”
Everyone went still.
He pointed toward me.
“You want an apology? Fine. We should have reacted differently.”
“That isn’t an apology.”
“Jesus Christ.”
Thomas murmured, “Richard.”
Dad ignored him.
“Yes, Vanessa behaved terribly. Yes, Eleanor minimized it. Yes, I wanted the video deleted.”
Mom turned sharply.
“You told him that?”
Dad didn’t look at her.
“But none of that justifies tearing apart this family and threatening criminal charges.”
“I haven’t threatened criminal charges.”
“You brought in forensic accountants.”
“Because almost a million dollars disappeared.”
“It did not disappear!”
“Then where is it?”
Dad looked toward Vanessa.
She stared at the table.
There.
That look.
For the first time, my father seemed to recognize he had spent years shielding someone who had no intention of shielding him.
“Tell him,” Dad said.
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
“Tell me what?”
Dad looked at her again.
“Tell him where the money went.”
Her attorney leaned in.
“Vanessa, you are not required—”
“Tell him!”
My father’s voice shook the room.
Vanessa stood.
“Do not yell at me.”
“I covered for you.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
Dad laughed in disbelief.
“You begged me.”
“I asked for help.”
“You forged invoices!”
Mom gasped.
Vanessa went pale.
Her lawyer closed his eyes.
Rebecca quietly wrote something down.
Dad realized too late what he had done.
Thomas whispered, “Richard, stop talking.”
But years of resentment were coming loose now.
Dad pointed at Vanessa.
“She told me every business was about to turn around.”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“And you believed me because you wanted to.”
“You said Blake had investors.”
“He did.”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Not my problem.”
My mother whispered, “Vanessa.”
“What?”
“Where did the money go?”
Vanessa looked at her as if the question itself were insulting.
“Business expenses.”
Rebecca spoke.
“Which businesses?”
“Mine.”
“RVB reported less than forty thousand dollars in revenue over three years.”
“I had other ventures.”
“Name them.”
“My attorney can provide records.”
Her lawyer’s expression suggested he had never seen those records either.
Dad leaned back.
“You spent it.”
Vanessa’s eyes flashed.
“You think Mom’s hands are clean?”
Mom stiffened.
“Do not drag me into this.”
“The jewelry?”
Dad looked at Mom.
“What jewelry?”
Mom’s face changed.
Vanessa smiled.
Slowly.
It was the expression of someone who had just found another person to push in front of the train.
“Oh, Dad.”
“Vanessa,” Mom warned.
“You thought her new necklace came from where?”
My father turned to my mother.
“How much?”
Mom’s eyes filled.
“It was a gift.”
“From who?”
She said nothing.
Vanessa answered.
“Daniel.”
I stared at my mother.
She whispered, “I intended to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“That I used one of the accounts.”
“How much?”
“Daniel—”
“How much?”
“Thirty-eight thousand.”
I already knew.
Hearing her admit it still hurt.
“You knew?”
She shook her head.
“Not about everything.”
“Did you know the money was mine?”
“I knew Richard could access it.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Her silence was enough.
Dad stared at her as though she had betrayed him personally.
The irony nearly made me dizzy.
Vanessa laughed.
“This is ridiculous. Everybody took something.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No, Vanessa. Everybody didn’t.”
“You paid for Claire’s car.”
“My wife and I share finances.”
“Oh, so when she spends your money it’s romantic?”
Rebecca cut in.
“This meeting is no longer productive.”
Vanessa leaned toward me.
“You think she’s different?”
“Yes.”
“Because she cries prettier?”
I stood.
Her lawyer said, “Vanessa, stop.”
But she continued.
“She got pregnant and suddenly you forgot everyone who was there before her.”
My hands curled against the table.
“She didn’t make you steal from me.”
“Steal?”
Vanessa laughed.
“You gave me money for years.”
“I gave you money when I chose to.”
“And what changed?”
I thought about Claire drenched at this table.
“Eventually I saw you clearly.”
For the first time, Vanessa looked hurt.
Real hurt.
Then it became rage.
“You sanctimonious bastard.”
“Sit down,” Dad snapped.
“Shut up!”
She spun toward him.
“You don’t get to act innocent. You approved everything.”
“I tried to help you.”
“You helped yourself too.”
“I never—”
“The wine? The cars? The club?”
Dad’s face went gray.
Mom started crying.
Vanessa looked around the room.
“You all want me to be the villain because Daniel finally grew a spine?”
“No,” I said.
She turned.
“You’re the villain because you keep hurting people and calling their reaction the problem.”
For once, she had no answer.
I picked up my folder.
“We’re done.”
Mom stood.
“Daniel, please.”
I stopped at the doorway.
She wiped her face.
“Can’t we fix this?”
I looked at her.
“Maybe.”
Hope appeared in her eyes.
Then I continued.
“But fixing it doesn’t mean making it disappear.”
Her shoulders fell.
Outside, Rebecca and I walked toward my car.
Before we reached it, the front door opened behind us.
Vanessa rushed outside.
“Daniel!”
I turned.
She was holding something.
A folder.
Her lawyer followed, shouting her name.
Vanessa came down the steps.
“You want documents?”
Rebecca moved beside me.
Vanessa threw the folder onto the hood of my car.
“There.”
“What is it?”
“Proof Dad did more than approve my money.”
My father appeared in the doorway.
“Vanessa!”
She smiled at him.
“You wanted honesty.”
He went white.
I opened the folder.
The first page was a loan agreement.
My company listed as guarantor.
My signature at the bottom.
Except I had never signed it.
The loan amount was $2.4 million.
And it was ninety days from default.
I looked at Dad.
“What is this?”
Nobody answered.
Rebecca took the document from my hands.
Her face changed as she read.
“Daniel,” she said quietly, “do not say anything else.”
My father gripped the doorframe.
May you like
Vanessa folded her arms.
And suddenly, the missing million dollars was no longer the biggest problem in the room.
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